Mobile phone radiation vs WiFi

What’s the difference between mobile phone radiation and WiFi? We face off, mobile phone radiation vs WiFi, to find out.

Mobile phone radiation vs WiFi – what are they?

First of all, let’s talk a bit about mobile phone radiation and WiFi, what they are, and how they work.

Both are on the electromagnetic spectrum that contains visible light, infrared, X rays, radio waves, and so on. They sit between radio waves and micro waves.

It’s not in dispute that electromagnetic radiation can be damaging. Gamma rays, at the most extreme end, are deadly. X rays are limited because they are damaging to the body. Ultraviolet light from the sun causes sunburn and can cause skin cancer. These are called ionizing radiation because they can cause chemical reactions in the body.

But does the damage to people end there? The World Health Organisation classed mobile phone radiation as possibly carcinogenic – capable of causing cancer in humans. There is mounting evidence that mobile phone radiation and WiFi is capable of causing cancers, tumours, male infertility, and a host of other health problems.

What’s the difference?

One of the major differences between mobile phone radiation and WiFi is that mobile phone radiation is much more powerful. WiFi routers are generally much closer than mobile phone towers. So mobile phone radiation needs to be much stronger to make that distance.

On the other hand, many people have WiFi routers in their house, not something that can be said about mobile phone towers.

We invite both close to our bodies – pressing our phones against our ears, keeping them in a pocket all day long, using WiFi routers in our laps with laptops and tablets.

A recent Japanese study exposed sperm to a WiFi router like those found in mobile phones. After two hours 53% of sperm exposed to the WiFi had poor motility, versus 22% that hadn’t been exposed. After 24 hours 23% that had been exposed to WiFi were dead, versus an 8% death rate for the sperm that were not exposed.

What can we do about mobile phone radiation and WiFi?

An important thing to remember is that both mobile phone radiation and WiFi are operating all the time – whether we are using them or not. WiFi is a blanket network ready to pick up any connections. Mobile phones check in with the network frequently, whether they are actively being used or not.

If you aren’t using them just switch them off. Put your phone on airplane mode if you are using it without needing a connection, such as to watch films or TV you’ve already downloaded. Switch your phone and WiFi off overnight.

There are growing calls for limits to WiFi networks in schools. They are banned in French nursery schools, and some schools in the USA are returning to traditional wired networks rather than using WiFi.

Getting some distance is important too. Keep your phone away from your body. Place WiFi routers further away from where you and your family spend the most time, and not near where you sleep.

Anti-radiation protection like WaveWall blocks up to 87% of radiation from your phone from reaching your body. Plus, with the new WaveWall Lap and iPad cover, the same technology can be used to protect you from WiFi.

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash